Israeli naval forces are on alert as an all-female ship prepares an attempt to break the blockade of Gaza. Organisers say the Mariam – named after the Virgin Mary – is to sail from Beirut in the next few days.

However one woman who will not be on board is Haifa Wehbe, a sultry and often scantily clad Lebanese singer. Wehbe's request to join the vessel has reportedly been vetoed by Hizbullah, the militant Lebanese Shia organisation, on the grounds that her "nudity, degradation and immodest dress" would damage the reputations of all the Arab and European women on board.

Arab observers dismissed the story – in the Kuwait daily al-Siyassah – saying it was designed to smear the humanitarian mission with a connection to Hizbullah, like the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip an implacable enemy of Israel.

Al-Haj and other activists – both Muslim and Christian – gathered yesterday near a statue of the Virgin Mary at Maghdousha in south Lebanon to receive the blessing of a Catholic archbishop as Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, warned Lebanon it would be held responsible for any "violent and dangerous confrontation" at sea.

"Mariam has already begun to achieve its goals and aims, as Israeli officials issue threats before easing the blockade of Gaza," said spokeswoman Rima Farah. "The participants are determined to go ahead and their only weapons are our faith in the Virgin Mary and in humanity."

Ron Ben-Yishai, the veteran Israeli military commentator, said the impending Lebanese flotilla was keeping Israeli naval forces in a state of high readiness because the sailing time from Beirut to the Israeli coast was so short.

Another aid ship, the Naji al-Ali – named after a murdered Palestinian cartoonist and sponsored by Journalists without Borders and Free Palestine – is to carry 50 journalists and 25 European volunteers, including members of the European parliament.

In a related development, it was reported today that two Iranian aid ships bringing aid to Gaza would pass through the Suez canal into the Mediterranean despite an Israeli request by Egypt to prevent their passage. There was no confirmation of the story in the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Dar.

Israel is still facing a backlash over its seizure of a six-ship aid flotilla bound for Gaza in which nine Turkish activists were shot dead by naval commandos who boarded the Mavi Marmara. Several more "break the blockade" flotillas or land convoys are being planned over the coming months.